i am one of the people who thinks that all of the 10/10 scores are way too high. and this is coming from a guy who normally doesn't care about 10/10 being like "the perfect score". it's not the "perfect score" i have an issue with. it's the fact that the game has so many problems with it that i dont think it deserves a 10/10.
other games with technical and functional problems get knocked down points or percentages of points for them. but it seems this game hasn't.
one conversation i heard about the game, the people were saying that it seemed people were grading gta4 based on how it was compared to the previous gta's, completely ignoring what other competing games, directly and indirectly, had done in the space.
for example - and this is mentioned in the article - the cover system in gta4 is very problematic compared to other games with relatively tight cover systems (gears of war and rainbow six vegas say hi)
also you make all this money and money is suppose to be niko's motivation to do all these crimes. however, there isn't really any time i felt i was tight on money. i currently have a balance of 400k and i still don't see what im suppose to use it on. i know weapons are really expensive but at the same time, none of the missions up till this point have needed much more than the SMG or the Carbine. this abundance of money, for me anyway, really reduces the reward for the risk i take in the missions (where really, the only reward i'm getting at this point is the fact that i'm progressing the story)
from what i hear, playing through the whole game makes you realize and possibly even agree with all the 10's the game has received. but does that mean we can ignore all of the problems with the game?
@Benopolis, I posted this story to get everyones opinion. I agree with some of the points made in the article about what changes they can make before the next game.
Grand Theft Auto IV is, without a doubt, a stunning game with an amazing amount of content. Yes, GTA IV is fully deserving of the praise heaped on it by the many media critics who've reviewed it. What follows is my critical analysis-call it nitpicking if you will-of GTA IV, in hopes that Rockstar will put this on the list of things to remedy before the next game comes out.
I think it's a difficult one, the UK does indeed represent 30% of Europe under normal circumstances but GTA:IV is a game very attuned to the UK market, the 360 is doing MUCH better here than the rest of Europe and the UK is a significant chunk of the EU PS3 market as well.
I'm sure GTA:IV is doing well in Europe but I'm not so sure it will have shifted 1.5m on it's own, particularly with a weak 360 install base on the continent.
If I was Rockstar I'd have allocated more PS3 stock to Europe and More 360 stock to the US.
Well out of 6million first week sales globally for both 360 and PS3(which is what the NPD for April is, first week) the UK has done a million alone, that normally represents 30-40% of Europe so we can estimate that as a whole Europe will sell well above 2million copies, probably 2.5million, or even higher.
That leaves approx 3.5million to be split between the PS3 and 360 versions in North America and Japan, if Japan and Canada and all other territories accumilate 500k between them, which i can see happening, that leaves only 3million for 360/PS3 combined NPD.
Microsoft is reporting above 60-40 split so that leaves the 360 version around the higher side of 1.8million and PS3 around the lower side of 1.2million. This could be well undervalued, although i cant short atm as im about 3million in the red.
* Actual MS sales data from last week shows Xbox 360 console sales at retail went up 54% week-over-week as a result of GTA’s success
* According to retailers more than 60% of all GTA games sold in the first week were the Xbox 360 version
* Retailers are telling us that the game is attaching strongly to new console sales, with roughly 40% of new consoles selling with a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV
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i am one of the people who thinks that all of the 10/10 scores are way too high. and this is coming from a guy who normally doesn't care about 10/10 being like "the perfect score". it's not the "perfect score" i have an issue with. it's the fact that the game has so many problems with it that i dont think it deserves a 10/10.
other games with technical and functional problems get knocked down points or percentages of points for them. but it seems this game hasn't.
one conversation i heard about the game, the people were saying that it seemed people were grading gta4 based on how it was compared to the previous gta's, completely ignoring what other competing games, directly and indirectly, had done in the space.
for example - and this is mentioned in the article - the cover system in gta4 is very problematic compared to other games with relatively tight cover systems (gears of war and rainbow six vegas say hi)
also you make all this money and money is suppose to be niko's motivation to do all these crimes. however, there isn't really any time i felt i was tight on money. i currently have a balance of 400k and i still don't see what im suppose to use it on. i know weapons are really expensive but at the same time, none of the missions up till this point have needed much more than the SMG or the Carbine. this abundance of money, for me anyway, really reduces the reward for the risk i take in the missions (where really, the only reward i'm getting at this point is the fact that i'm progressing the story)
from what i hear, playing through the whole game makes you realize and possibly even agree with all the 10's the game has received. but does that mean we can ignore all of the problems with the game?